Getting to Know You
by Ali-Chan1
Summary: Maybe they were as guilty of being cliquey and exclusive as the cheerio and footballer end of the school hierarchy. On the anniversary of Kurt's mom's death New Directions get to know each other just a little better.


**Author's Note:**** Hey guys! So I actually wrote this back before Sectionals and pretty much forgot about it when it got lost in the shuffle of reorganizing my writing folders. (One may ask how a document titled Glee ended up in an original fic folder....but I'm a writer and thus painfully disorganized) Regardless I just want to make that noted because it was written before the drama that was Sectionals so obviously that is not mentioned here. **

**Also I just want to mention that I've set forth a challenge for myself, it's all on my profile page but basically in December I will have been posting on for ten years and my goal is to make it to 100 fics between now and then. So after this I'll only have 30 left! But head over to my profile to check it out, I'm leaving it open for suggestions.**

**Anyway without further ado...**

**_Getting to Know You_**

It was hard, sometimes, to remember that there had been a Glee before them. That the Gleeks had known each other for a lot longer then a couple of months and shared a huge part of their lives with each other. They had banded together when it was the Cheerios and the jocks that tormented them. And it was easy to forget that they hadn't been there when Mercedes' grandmother died, they'd been by Tina's side while she endured two weeks in the hospital due to complications from having her appendix removed. Sure Puck and Finn and the rest of the cheerio and football players had their own inside jokes and secrets but it as never as obvious as the one the Gleeks shared.

There was always that dividing line between the past and present and that was why, on November 30th, when Kurt decked Puck none of the Gleeks were surprised. Puck on the other hand had stumbled backwards, not from the force of the blow (because come on, he was Puck and Kurt was at least half his size) but from the sheer shock of it. One moment they had all been joking around while they waited for Mr. Schue and one lame _yo mama_ joke later and the room had split into it's old loyalties.

The cheerios had circled around Puck cooing over his injury and Quinn had flown of the handle letting her pregnancy hormones take control of the situation. The entire room knew that the instant Mercedes stepped in it would only lead to trouble and lots more screaming. They may not have always known each other but they knew each other now and were more then well acquainted with their group dynamic to know that no one was brave enough to step between the heated divas.

Kurt's exit, an exit complete with a door slam that would have made Rachel proud had it been another situation silenced at least one of the screaming diva's. "You are all insensitive jackasses." Mercedes did take a couple steps out of Quinn's face as she spoke to the whole group.

"He's the one who punched me! What the hell is his problem today? Did they retire his favorite line of skin lotion shit?" Puck pushes himself out of th chair that the girls had guided him to rubbing his jaw but otherwise perfectly fine, hell he took harder hits every day at football practice. "Because that was bullshit."

"Today's the anniversary of his mother's death. Kurt always takes the day very badly. Normally he takes a mental health day but he showed up because sectionals are this weekend. He was trying to do what was best for the team. I think you understand that sentiment, don't you Noah?" Rachel crossed her arms over her chest and her gaze caused Puck to take a few defensive steps backwards. Her words carry their intended effect because now they do all feel badly.

"Well damn, a little heads up would have been nice." Puck swore, but he spoke for the group; they couldn't be blamed for something that they didn't know. How were any of them to know anything if the Gleeks were so intent on keeping their past all wrapped up in secrecy and inside jokes?

"Kurt doesn't like to talk about it." Mercedes is still glaring at Quinn as she says this but her words sound lame to all of them and an awkward silence falls over the group.

"_You_ should have told us." Finn had stayed out of the heat of the fight, off on the sidelines because he was always so unsure of his place with these two groups. He was the reason they were together and he could never be sure where exactly he fit between the two. "We're supposed to be friends and one of you couldn't pull of us aside," he gestured between the two groups, "and say '_hey, tomorrow's going to be a rough day on Kurt. Take it easy on him.'_"

It was the Gleek's turn to look ashamed because, of course, he was right. It wouldn't have taken much for Rachel to pull Finn aside and mention something, a heads up, anything. But maybe they were as guilty of being cliquey and exclusive as the cheerio and footballer end of the school heirarchy.

"Someone should go after him." Rachel shifted her guilty gaze to the door that Kurt had just stormed out of.

"Puck and I will go," Finn cut in before Mercedes can even make her offer to go after her best friend.

And so they went. It made sense, out of all of them they knew what it was like to live in a one parent family. They knew that losing a parent, be it to death or divorce sucked. They understood what it was like to have stay strong for the parent that was still around.

Maybe they would all take something from this (even without Mr. Schuester trying to force a life lesson on them). They may have separate histories and they may not share inside jokes that date back to the sixth grade but Finn was right, they were friends and it was time they actually got to know each other.


End file.
